England's war cry: 'Forget Irish defeat'

CHRIS ASHTON is one of only five survivors from England’s last Six Nations trip to Dublin two years ago.

Chris Ashton has told England to forget about defeat in Dublin two years ago

Martin Johnson’s side lost 24-8 after Ireland took control of the game from the first whistle.

But England still won the Six Nations crown thanks to France beating Wales in Paris, and perhaps not surprisingly Ashton and his team mates were almost too embarrassed to celebrate.

Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, James Haskell and Tom Wood are the four other remaining players who tasted defeat in Dublin that day, and England go to the Irish capital today not having won a Six Nations clash there for a decade.

Their last success was in 2003, the year that they won the World Cup and a Grand Slam.

They did win a World Cup warm- up match in Dublin in 2011 and they crushed Declan Kidney’s side 30-9 in last season’s Championship, albeit at Twickenham.

We've never been beaten like that since these coaches have been together. The attitude is different.

Chris Ashton

Saracens winger Ashton, 25, doesn’t need any reminders of that Saturday, March 19, 2011, and he simply does not believe that Stuart Lancaster’s England will be caught out in a similar way.

“It was the last game and there was quite a big build-up to it and for us to win the Grand Slam. There was a lot of pressure going into the game and quite a few us were relatively new to the whole set-up.

“We got hammered in the first half – it was exactly what they did to Wales last week.

“As soon as you get on a roll like that at home it’s pretty difficult to stop it. We made too many errors all at one time and the Irish capitalised on it.

“Ben Youngs got binned quite early on (for throwing the ball into the crowd) and the game was away from us. The Irish fans got on top of us – it’s a pretty hostile place to go and play.

“The celebrations were a bit flat. We went back to the hotel and watched the France game and found out we had won the Championship. And it was not the way you want to win it, was it?

“We had a good tournament that time but now it just feels different. The team feels a lot closer together and everyone knows what we are aiming for and the direction we are going.

“The culture and the attitude are completely different. We have never been beaten like that since these coaches have been together. We have taken a step forward.

“You try and have an impact but it’s pretty hard to stop the snowball coming at you – there’s not too much to take from it,” he said.

Ireland won their opening game of this season’s Championship in Wales 30-22, while England emphatically saw off Scotland 38-18 at Twickenham.

But Ashton, who has scored two tries in his last two appearances in an Englad shirt – against New Zealand and Scotland – believes it is too early to start calling the game a Grand Slam decider.

“You just saw Italy turn over France in Rome last week,” he said. “It is a completely different tournament from what it was five years ago – everybody beats everybody.

“For people to say after just two weeks that whoever wins is going to win a Grand Slam... I think that is pretty optimistic.”